Role Founder

Duration 6 months

Product Zest Club was a project I launched during my last semester at UW-Madison in Spring of 2021. Nothing socially was happening on campus during that time, so to solve that I decided to host small gatherings of 8 students. To get in, they had to text a story of when they impacted someone's life and a song from their childhood.

Design process The idea was written in my notes app while I was on a plane returning to my final semester on campus. Over a weekend, I created a landing page, social media account, and downloaded the student body email list. Most of the work involved iterating on the copy of the emails to see which had a higher open rate, as well as organizing events. The price to attend was $15 and was my first project that started earning $.

Reflection Before launching, I wasn't sure what the response would be but it was worth trying out. Zest Club resonated immediately; within 20 minutes of sending out the first email blast, students started applying to get in. It was gratifying to create an experience that people were willing to pay for, as well as the overall impact it had on campus -- overhearing students randomly bring it up during class.